Heart to Heart
by Katie 4 Clorith
Summary: Denzel wonders what to get Marlene for Valentine's Day and asks Cloud for advice. Except, he learned alot more than he bargained for. Strongly implied Cloud x Aeris and slight implied Denzel x Marlene


Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. Characters belong to SquareEnix

_**Heart to Heart**_

Cloud sighed as he stared at the mountain of paperwork in front of him. He should have known better than to leave his work so late and now, he was paying for it, the paperwork for deliverys building up to a point where it would take days to finish.

He twirled the pen idly between his fingers, letting out another sigh. It was such a gorgeous day and he wanted nothing more than to take Fenrir and take her out for a ride but he couldn't. Instead, he pressed a hand to his temple and stared at the figures in front of him.

He was thankful when there was a knock at the door, giving a legitimate excuse for distraction. He muttered for them to enter and managed a small smile as Denzel entered the room. However, on closer inspection he frowned when he realised the younger blonde was blushing.

"Denzel?"

"Cloud! I need your help! I don't know what to get Marlene for Valentine's Day and I really want to impress her, like, so much but what do I get her? What would she like? What do I do? I only have two days and I can't think of anything I..."

"Whoa, Denzel, slow down." Cloud commanded, holding his hand up. Denzel effectively quieted and stared at Cloud pleadingly. "First off, I don't know what you should get Marlene, I don't know what she'd like. Second of all, why are you asking me?"

"Because you'll have had experiance of this stuff,"the boy replied with a shrug. Cloud let out a small laugh and looked at his desk. Denzel frowned and looked at the older male carefully. "Haven't you?" he asked.

"Not much," he sighed eventually, his gaze softening. Denzel had never seen such a look in Cloud's eyes before. A sad, longing look.

"Tifa?" he asked. Cloud snorted and shook his head quickly. Denzel couldn't say he wasn't surprised. The way everyone went on, he thought Cloud and Tifa would have gotten together at some point.

"Who was she?" he asked, taking the liberty of sitting next to his idol. Cloud sighed, finally putting his pen down on the desk and turning to stare out of the window, watching the setting sun cast its glow across the forest. For a moment, Denzel was sure he wasn't going to get an answer.

"Her name was Aeris and she was perfect," the older blonde breathed, his gaze fixed on the sky. "She was the kindest, gentlest, most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her."

Denzel listened to him, fascinated at how much Cloud was admitting. He had always been under the impression that Cloud had no feelings and just hated the whole world. But now, he was beginning to understand why.

"So, what happened to her?" he asked and he watched Cloud close his eyes, a single tear escaping his lids, breaking his cold expression. He didn't answer and Denzel regretted saying anything, but the curiousity was in him now. "Cloud?"

"She died."

"Died?" he wasn't expecting that! Cloud nodded. Denzel stared down at his hands, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Sephiroth killed her." Cloud continued. Denzel flinched. Now, Sephiroth was a name he recognised.

"Why?" he asked, though he knew Sephiroth was a cold killer, he couldn't see why he had killed Aeris out of the whole group that had travelled to stop him.

"She was a Cetra, which made her an enemy to Jenova." Cloud explained. Denzel couldn't believe that nobody had ever told him about this. Marlene had mentioned something about a flower girl and last week, on the seventh of February, Avalanche had gotten together for a rather sombre party but Denzel didn't know why. Now, he understood a little of what made Cloud so cold towards everyone.

"But he waited," the older one added, breaking Denzel's thoughts. "He waited until I was there, so I could see when he..." he broke off suddenly but Denzel was thankful to be spared the grisly details of her death, shifting uncomfortably. Cloud turned to him.

"So if you want my advice Denzel," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tell her how you feel, tell her _**exactly**_ how you feel, make it crystal clear because you never know when you will regret it."

"So, tell her I love her?" he asked. Cloud nodded slowly. Denzel smiled and got up. "Thanks Cloud."

"No problem." Cloud replied turning back to his paperwork.

"And Cloud?" Denzel whispered as he peeked his head back around the door. Cloud glanced up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sure Aeris knew how you felt," he smiled before closing the door. Cloud was silent for a moment, glancing back outside the window for a second before his gaze shifted to a book that sat on the edge of his desk. Carefully, he took it and opened it, allowing a pressed white lily to fall into his lap. Smiling, he picked up the stem between his thumb and forefinger, bringing it to his lips.

"I love you," he whispered softly, placing the flower back. And he was almost sure that the breeze that entered the window was trying to embrace him in a tender, loving hold.

* * *


End file.
